The Hundredth Queen

As an orphan ward of the Sisterhood, eighteen-year-old Kalinda is destined for nothing more than a life of seclusion and prayer. Plagued by fevers, she’s an unlikely candidate for even a servant’s position, let alone a courtesan or wife. Her sole dream is to continue living in peace in the Sisterhood’s mountain temple. But a visit from the tyrant Rajah Tarek disrupts Kalinda’s life. Within hours, she is ripped from the comfort of her home, set on a desert trek, and ordered to fight for her place among the rajah’s ninety-nine wives and numerous courtesans. Her only solace comes in the company of her guard, the stoic but kind Captain Deven Naik. Faced with the danger of a tournament to the death—and her growing affection for Deven—Kalinda has only one hope for escape, and it lies in an arcane, forbidden power buried within her. In Emily R. King’s thrilling fantasy debut, an orphan girl blossoms into a warrior, summoning courage and confidence in her fearless quest to upend tradition, overthrow an empire, and reclaim her life as her own.

Fantasy, Romance, and Intense Action

The Hundredth Queen is by far one of my favorite books of 2017. I received an ARC of this incredible book before it even had a cover and I was completely obsessed after just reading one chapter. I am one of those readers who is usually drawn to a book because of the cover so when I received this book I read it just because the synopsis sounded intriguing.....and WOW am I happy that I gave this book a chance! The Hundredth Queen blew me away.....I literally could not put the book down and finished it in one weekend.

The Hundredth Queen was full of magic, suspense, fantasy, action, betrayal, and swoon-worthy romance. Emily's writing is beautiful, captivating, and full of emotion. Each character is unique and fascinating in their own way but the main character, Kalinda, is the heart of the story. Kalinda is a strong female heroine who beats the odds to become one of the Rajah's queens.....most importantly his Hundredth Queen.

Kali is torn from her peaceful and serene life at the Sisterhood's temple and brought to the Rajah's palace where she will fight for her life in a tournament against his other ninety-nine queens and also his courtesans.

When Kali is pulled from the temple she is escorted to the Rajah's palace by Deven, a high-ranking palace guard. I loved the immediate connection between Kali and Deven and how easily they became intertwined with each other. Deven's fierce protectiveness toward Kali was beautiful and breath-taking and their romance felt like it was destined to be.

“His warm smile squeezes me breathless."

Another aspect of the story that I loved was how Emily portrayed the importance of strong female relationships between the characters all throughout the story.

The Hundredth Queen is a sweeping YA fantasy that is full of incredible world-building, breath-taking romance, and a magical journey that will keep you intrigued until the last page. There were so many fascinating twists and turns throughout the story and each turn of the page seemed to be more suspenseful than the last. Each chapter was so exciting and intriguing and I couldn't wait to see what was going to happen next. I literally cannot wait to read The Fire Queen to see what lies ahead for Kalinda and her journey to become the One Hundredth Queen.

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